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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Why I'm a Fan

As just about any reader knows I like Doctor Who. I can’t remember not liking Doctor Who. I’ve been thinking a lot about why we like things that we like, and Doctor Who Seemed like a good starting point.

Thinking about the things I like. . . the major things that I like . . . they all stem from childhood. Nostalgia plays a huge part. I find that I am constantly striving to pull on thread that runs from childhood through to adulthood. I surround myself with parts of my childhood, probably in an attempt to not loose said childhood. Of course, all of this “climbing a thread from my childhood” ends in a lot of clutter, and extra stuff. Collections I can’t let go of, and buying up parts of my childhood that I want to preserve. The line of logic usually goes back to “But I want my kids to have them when/if I ever have kids” When In the back of my mind I know I would never let my kids play with them.

Now, Fandom has also been an interesting journey for me. The earliest form of any sort of organized fandom for me involved me asking my dad questions about Doctor Who. Of course, this quickly switched to my dad asking me questions about Doctor Who. My dad of course is probably the reason I am the person I am with fandom. Now, he is by no means a super fan. But he is also more than a casual viewer. Some of my earliest memories are of being with my dad and watching doctor who, or playing with toys, or looking at books about things that I still like. He encouraged the love that I have for these things. So in a way, even though I am lucky enough to still have my father, these childhood franchises that I hang on to is not only a connection to my childhood, but it is also a connection to my father. In one way it’s a point of reference that I can communicate to him about, and on another level it is a part of me that I know I will always share with my dad. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I can feel my dad when I watch Doctor Who, or pick up a Masters of the Universe figure, and I hope to always have that!

So, My purpose for fandom is nostalgia and also the memories it conjures for my Dad. I think it is probably more complicated than that, but those are the reasons I feel it is important for me. Why is fandom important to you? why are the franchises that you follow important to you. Why does it just make sense to be a fan?

2 comments:

When I was growing up (Britian, 1970s) there wasn't much imaginative fiction of TV. There were lots of cop shows (Kojak, Starsky and Hutch etc), but all these shows accepted the world as it was presented to them. Doctor Who had an Alice in Wonderland quality. It was one of the few programs that asked why things are the way they are. (eg, what if dinosaurs had survived and evolved. That's why it captured my imagination. It daring to take the young, bored, isolated viewer into fascinating speculative territory.